Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#2901
TILLMAN AND NORWOOD LEDGERS
Inventory
Abstract: James A. Tillman and John Norwood, physicians of
Crawford, Russell County, Ala., who, in 1860-1862,
appear to have shared a practice, called Tillman and
Norwood.
Two ledgers relating to the medical practices of
Norwood and Tillman. Volume 1 (126 p.) contains
entries about Norwood's practice, 1859-1866, with only
a few entries for 1860-1862, the period during which
he appears to have shared a practice with Tillman.
Volume 2 (398 p.) contains Tillman and Norwood
entries, 1860-1862, and Norwood entries, 1866-1868,
when the partnership seems to have been dissolved.
Entries in both ledgers show dates of treatment and
payment received, and, before and after the Civil War,
note which patients were black. Many entries,
especially in Volume 1, consist only of "advice and
medicine for self." Other entries, however, list the
patient's complaint and the treatment rendered.
Tillman and Norwood typically dressed wounds,
delivered babies, lanced fingers, and prescribed
morphine, quinine, and laudanum. Tooth extraction was
also an important part of their practice; an entry on
26 August 1860 shows that Tillman was paid in whisky
for "nocking (sic) out two teeth with a hammer and
nail."
Online Catalog Terms:
Afro-Americans--Alabama--Medical care--History--19th century.
Crawford (Ala.)--History--19th century.
Dentistry--Practice--Alabama--History--19th century.
Medicine--Formulae, receipts, prescriptions--History--19th
century.
Medicine--Practice--Accounting--History--19th century.
Medicine--Practice--Alabama--History--19th century.
Norwood, John Norwood, fl. 1859-1868.
Physicians--Alabama--History--19th century.
Russell County (Ala.)--History--19th century.
Slaves--Alabama--Medical care.
Tillman, James A., fl. 1860-1862.
Size: 2 items (0.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Edith Kyle Harrison of Columbus,
Georgia, in September 1952.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This collection was rehoused under the
sponsorship of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, Office of
Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Related Collection: SLAVE BIRTH RECORD (#672), in which some
of the names of entries, including those
of slaves are duplicated.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents
Shelf List
SHELF LIST
Box 1 (only)